Hay-loader



UNITED STATES PATENT Urraca@ THEODORE C. LIPPIT'IXVOF SIIENANDOAI-I,IOVA.

HAY-LOADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,476, dated May 10,1892.

Application tiled November 1'7, 1891. Serial No. 412,135. (No model.) n

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE C. LIPPITT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Shenandoah, in the county of Page and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Loaders; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of devices by means of which a forkfull of hay may be taken from a wagon and placed upon a rick or stack,or by means of which the hay may be taken from rick or stackand placedupon the wagon, such devices being in general called hay-loaders.

The object of this invention is to adapt a pole to swing to and fro in avertical direction, and at the same time to move in a somewhat circulardirection to carry the hay-fork to and fro between the wagon and thestack to be operated by means of horse-power or ther power for drawing arope.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination ofparts forming a hay-loader, hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure I represents aside elevation, partly in vertical section, of a hay-loader according tomy invention in the act of raising a fork full of hay from a load. Fig.II represents the same in front elevation, partlyin vertical section, inthe act of swinging the hay to the stack. Fig. III is a detail Viewrepresenting the pulley-block on alarger scale with its front sideremoved to expose the Vinterior works. Fig. IV is an enlarged detailView of parts in the position of Fig. I.

5 represents the frame, the sills 6 of which are slanted up at each endlike sled-runners and provided with iron rings or loops 7, to which ateam may be hitched to draw the frame to any convenient point andthrough which stakes may be driven into the ground to hold the framesteady when at work.

8 represents the pol'e which I hinge to the frame by means of auniversal joint comprising a vertical stud 9, which is fitted to engagea slotted plate 10, fixed upon cross-pieces l1 between the sills of theframe, and a hingeblock l2, fitted to revolve around the stud 9 andfurther fitted to receive a hinge portion 13 of the pole which ispivoted to it at le. The pole is adapted to slide freely upon the beaml5 to reach the position shown in dotted lines 1G, and in doing this thepole not only swings upon its pivot-pin let in the block 12, but itswings around the stud 9 by means of the block l2 journaled thereon,thereby moving in a somewhat circular direction. The stud 9 is madeadjustable in the slotted plate l0 across the frame in order to give thepole the slant required to reach the proper distance sidewise whenmoving along the beam 15 and to shift to the opposite side and let thepole slide on beam 50.

5l is a nut screw-threaded upon the stud 9 to bind it to the plate 10 atany point thereon. If, as shown in Fig. II, the stud were set farther tothe left, the end of the pole would reach farther downward to the right,and if the stud were set across to the right of center the pole wouldfall to the left and slide on beaml 50, thereby enabling the pole tocarry hay to the left of the frame.

17 represents a hay-fork of any suitable construction, adapted to takeas much hay at a time as can be conveniently raised by a horse.

1S represents a rope hitched at one end to a pulley-block 2l, andpassing under a pulley 19, which is journaled in a fork-handle, and Overa pulley 20, which is jonrnaled in the pulley-block, and under a pulley22, to be attached to the whiffletree 23, whereby a horse may beattached to do the work of raising and moving the hay in loading andunloading wagons. i

The pulley 22 is hung in a yoke, which is freely connected with thestake 24 that is driven in the ground. This connection is made free bymeans of a rope or chain 25, in order that the pulley may adjust itselfto the direction of the rope 18 when the latter is drawn by a horse.

The handle of the fork or the pulley-block thereon is provided with avertically-projecting knob 26, adapted to engage a shoulder 27 of thepulley-block, and in the act of so doing it raises an arm 28 of thesentry 29, which is ICO pivoted at 30 to the pulley-block, whereby thehook end 3l of the sentry is brought tobear against the neck of the knob2G to hold the knob in engagement with the shoulder 27.

32 is a detent, pivoted at to the block and adapted to engage its freeend 34 with an upward projecting arm 35 of the sentry, whereby thesentryisprevented from tipping downward to hold the knob 26. Should theweight of the detent 32 not be sufficient to hold it in engagement, aspring 36 may be provided to assist.

37 is a cord or wire connected with the detent and passing overa pulley38 in the block andthrough a series of eyes on the pole, the latter one39 of `which is located alittle above its base. Thenee the cord passesto an adjusting-screw 40, to which it is freely attached. This screwpasses through an arm 41, projecting from the plate 10 to the rear ofthe pole, and is provided witha check-nut 42, whereby it may be rigidlyfixed at any point of adjustment. This adjustment is so arranged thatthe cord 37 will be drawn tight, and the detent will be thereby raisedto disengage the sentry and the fork held by it at the instant when thepole reaches its forward limit of motion.

43 is a spring interposed in the line of the cord 37, giving a yieldingtension thereon to prevent the cord being broken if the pole shouldspring too far forward in rapid service.

44 represents another cord or rope secured at one end 45 to the pole andthe other end 46 to the frame, and passing midway undera pulley 47,which is attached to a portion of the frame, so as to be located alittle forward of the pole when the latter is at its zenith, as shown indotted lines at 4S, and to the rear of the pole when the latter is inits extreme forward position.

49 is a weight attached to the cord 44 between the end 46 thereof andthe pulley 47.

The operation is as follows: The frame of the loader being fixed to theground, as before described, a wagon-load of hay is to be driven infront of it, and the horse being backed up to the stake 24 to free therope 1S the fork 17 is to be let down upon the load and filled in theusual manner. Then the horse is started and moving away from the stake24 forward draws upon the rope 18 and raises the fork 17, with itscontents,until the knob 26 rises into engagement with the shoulder 27and the sentry 29. Then if the horse continues pulling the pole willbegin to raise and to move along the slide-beam 15, and when the pole israised very little the cord 37 will be slackened, permitting the detent32 to engage the sentry. The necessity for this rises from the fact thatas the pole nears its perpendicularthere is less and less draft upon therope 18, and when the pole passes center it naturally descends ofvitsown weight, so there is no draft upon the rope 18. Consequently the forkand hay therein would not be held elevated, but would run down of theirown 'weightg but by means of the sentinel and detent described the forkand its load are held raised until they reach the desired point ofdelivery, when the fork is to be opened by the usual means, according tothe construction of the particular fork in service and the hay will bedischarged. The discharge may be made at any point in the path of thepole.

The action of the weight 4.() tends, first, to assist in raising thepole until it passes the pulley 47, at which point the rope 44, beingdrawn backward over the pulley 47, tends to raise the weight, and thefurther back the pole goes the more the weight resists, so that thenatural tendency of the pole to rush ungovernably through the air fromthe time it approaches its vertical position to the end of its path isoverbalanced. As soon as the load is released from the fork the weight49 overba-lances the weight of the pole and draws it backward until itpasses pulley 47 at which point the pole in its passage forward bygravity begins to raise the weight and to be retarded thereby until itis stopped at the proper point to receive the next load. It may be seenthat the action of the weight is to pull directly upon the pole withoutthe mediation of any pulley in lifting the pole toward the left and thatthe pulley 47, being freely hung, is only a rider on the rope until thepole passes a point vertically over the pulley. Then the pulley beginsto resist, so that the further passage of the pole raises the weight.This gives much greater range to the pole, permitting it to be set toswing to the right or left and to reach far or near without changing thelocation of the pulley 47, because that, being freely hung, willaccommodate itself to any position of the pole. This could not be donewith one fixed pulley nor with two fixed pulleys, one to act at eachside of the rope. In the meantime, as soon as the horse has traveled farenough so that the pole and itsload continue to move of their own accordthe driver may be returning the horse to the stake 24, while the pole,continuing on its way, deposits its load on the stack or on the wagon,as the case may be, and is returned again to its forward position by theweighted oord 44. Thus the weighted cord renders assistance in raisingthe pole,in preventing its sudden fall backward, in limiting itsdistance of backward travel, in bringing the pole forward to and beyondits vertical position, in resisting its sudden fall forward, and, nally,in limiting the distance to which it can fall forward. When the polereaches its forward position, the cord 37, being attached at a point tothe rear of the pole, will be drawn upon, so as to raise the detent 32,permitting the sentinel to release the knob 26, and the fork willdescend by gravity for another load. The screw 40 permits the cord to beadjusted to raise the detent at the right instant to drop the hay at therequired point, and the spring 43 prevents the cord being broken byundue springing of the po'le.

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Should greater range be required in dropping the hay than the screw 4:0will accommodate, the oord 37 may be taken in or let out at its point ofattachment with the spring 43. In

this ease the pole acts like a derriok as ahaycarrier; but theoatoh-worls in the pulleyblock would work as well with other styles otthe said pole being fitted to slide upon the said beam, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, in hay-loaders, of a frame having a cross portion atits base, a sind adj nstly fixed upon the said cross portion, two beamsfixed to the frame as portions thereof above the base and in linesnearly at right angles to the said cross portion, and a pole having` auniversal-joint eonneetionwith the said stud and located between thesaid beams and adapted to slide upon either one thereof, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I aX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE C. LIPPITT. Witnesses:

JOHN LINGo, C. LIPPITT.

